The Heart of a Warrior
by M-PBaseUnleashed
Summary: Lucy and Natsu are best friends. But what will happen to their friendship after Lucy has a dream that causes her to view Natsu differently? Will Natsu see the hidden signals that are being thrown at him, or will he lose his best friend to the sudden, unexpected charms of Sting?
1. The Dream

M-P: So, I just got into Fairy Tail and my friend told me that I should write something for it, so I here I come.

* * *

"Natsu, why are you in my bathtub, _again_?" I cried, dragging the pink haired dragon slayer out while covering my eyes.  
"Why are you even still in my house?"  
"Because we're a team, Lucy, and teams share things, right Happy?"  
"Aye, sir!" The blue cat chirped from its position on the edge of the tub. I glared at the annoying thing, but it just grinned it's stupid _cat grin_ at me and went into my kitchen. Probably to see if there are any _damn fish_ in the freezer. I glared at Natsu too, but he was currently asleep in my bed. I felt a small wave of frustration course through me, but sighed it away, knowing it would be wasted.

Resting on the sleeping bag that was reserved for Natsu, who _never _slept in it, I curled up into a ball and let my mind drift me to the dream world . . .

_"N-Natsu?" I whimpered. He shook his head at me. No, no this isn't possible. I stumbled over to him, and he clutched me in his arms as I wept into his neck.  
"It's OK, Lucy." He murmured, his voice soothing my emotional wounds. I pulled away and looked up at him. His sharp features, the acicular shape of his eyes and his crooked smile. I felt myself being pulled to him, closer to his all-seeing eyes. He placed one hand on the back of my head and wrapped the other around my waist, pulling me closer, closer, my head closer, until . . ._

"Lucy, wake up! We need to get a good job today. So hurry up, yeah?!" Natsu cried, leaning over me. I shrieked and kicked him away, causing him to also shriek comically. I sent him outside the house with Happy so that I could change quickly. As I peered at my outfit; a short black skirt with a white one strap top with the Fairy Tail insignia on it in blue with pink edging and knee-high flat black boots. I also had a small black jacket over my top. Putting my hair in a pony tail with a bang on the left side of my face, I sighed. What was with that dream I'd had? What had been about happen? And why was it that just in that dream, I had felt a pull to Natsu? Is there something wrong with me?


	2. Job- Chosen!

I sat down at the bar, and waited for Natsu to come up with a job. _That dream . . . oh what does it mean?_  
"Lucy, Natsu found a job, and the reward's pretty big, so we're coming too." A male voice said from behind me. I turned to see Gray and Erza standing there. I was sure I sweat dropped when I saw Eza's luggage cart. Looking away from it, I glanced over at Natsu, who was talking to Macao, quite passionately, about some type of punishment Romeo had been issued because he went on a small mission by himself. I felt a smile flit onto my face. This was the Natsu I knew and loved. No, not love love . . . not like that.  
"Lucy, what are you waiting for?" Erza called from the doorway. I looked up and my eyes locked with Natsu. He looked at me with some concern on his face. I broke the contact and ran up to them, stand some distance from Natsu behind Gray.  
"Natsu, I think Lucy's avoiding you." I heard Happy whisper loudly to Natsu. I didn't hear Natsu's reply though. I was too busy trying to avoid his gaze. We set out. This job required us in partners. As long as I wasn't with Natsu, I wouldn't die.

* * *

"OK, Lucy, you go with Natsu, over to the centre point and destroy the lacrima that is keeping this place intact, and Gray and I will try to find out where the master of this place is."  
"But I wanna fight the master!" Natsu moaned. I had an idea.  
"How about all of you go to the master and I destroy the lacrima? That way all of you can fight him."  
"But we can't leave you alone, Lucy. That wouldn't be fair on you and your Spirits!" Natsu exclaimed. I glanced at him in surprise. He really _did_ care. I smiled at him and agreed reluctantly to be his partner. I felt bad, because I knew that he loved a good fight, headstrong guy that he was. He called out to me over his shoulder. I turned and followed. This mission would totally be OK if I didn't try to think about my dream, while with Natsu.

* * *

M-P: Sorry for the crap chapter, the next one is going to be more intense, so I'm just getting y'all in the mood.


	3. Broke My Fall

M-P: I'm trying to make more intense moments between Natsu and Lucy, since in the show, they don't have that many good moments, mostly comical ones. Please review and tell me if there is anything I should improve. I won't bite back. ^_^

BTW- The Celestial couple are Aquarius and Scorpio.

* * *

I felt my mouth drop open. This lacrima wasn't only big, in fact, it wasn't _a _lacrima_._ This massive lacrima had split into tens of pieces and had placed itself on various stands around. They were also on stands in the middle of a very large pool of water. Natsu's flames have had no effect on them so far, and neither has my Celestial Couple. This wasn't good. It was like a puzzle. Then things got complicated. I let out an involuntary yelp as the ground beneath me began to shift and water started to flow around my ankles. Natsu had hit a lacrima. I wailed when the pool of water was sucked down through a growing hole. The ground was, falling apart, to say the least. Trying hard to grab hold of something, I flailed in mid-air, no purchase found for grip. I shut my eyes, expecting the worse. Then there was a jolt in my arm. I opened my eyes in surprise to see my hand clasped in another. Looking up, I felt my eyes constrict as they, once again, locked with Natsu's. My mouth slowly fell open.  
"Natsu?!" Even though he was clearly struggling to keep a hold of my hand without slipping into the hole too, he grinned at me.  
"You're not gonna fall, Lucy, as long as I'm here, I'll always be there to grab your hand!" He declared. I felt my cheeks begin to flame.  
"N-Natsu . . ." I whispered. He looked at me closely, before replacing his concerned frown with his previous smile.  
"Natsu! Lucy!" A high-pitched voice trilled from above. I peered past Natsu's head and gasped.  
"Happy! Get us out of this!" I cried, waving my free arm around frantically.

Yeah, not the best idea.

I seemed to have flailed too much, and the extra movement pulled Natsu down.  
"Huh?" Both of us muttered, when we began to shift, before screaming as we were dragged down with the raging rapids towards total darkness.

* * *

I opened my eyes. My head was on a muscular chest. My eyes widened properly. I was lying on top of Natsu. I would have been crushed if I had hit the ground first, but he . . . he caught me and put himself under so that he could coushin my fall. He was unconscious and he had bruises and small leaking cuts all over his face and arms.  
"Oh, Natsu." I whispered, tears beginning to form in my eyes. I layed my head back onto his chest and tried not to cry. Something placed itself across my waist. I gasped.  
"Don't . . . cry, Lucy." He mumbled. Whether conciously or not, I couldn't tell, because I couldn't bring myself to look at his face. I gripped his shirt and buried my face in his neck.  
"I'm so sorry. This is all my fault for moving before Happy got us out." I choked to his throat. His grip on my waist tightened, but he said nothing. Getting up, I crawled, wincing when some of my own cuts and bruises made contact with the dust, and sat just beside Natsu's head. Being as gentle as I could, I lifted his head onto my lap. I brushed some dust away from his face and just sat there watching him. Seconds . . . minutes. I don't know how much time passed until he woke. His eyes scrunched before they opened hazily. I felt relief swell into my veins.  
"L-Lucy? Are you OK?" He mumbled to me from his position on my lap. I sweat dropped.  
"Why are you asking me that when you're the one who took the biggest hit?" He grinned sheepishly at me. Sitting up, he stopped.  
"Lucy, where are we?" I shook my head. I didn't know. Looking around, I noticed that the ground was wet, probably from the rapids. There were little clumps of dust dotted around the place, and a single foreboding door showed the only exit from the large room. Gripping Natsu's elbow, I brought myself to my feet and helped him stand. A small current zipped through my fingers before fading slowly. I hesitated, before tugging him to his feet. He took a step and almost fell down again. I caught him and slung his left arm over my shoulder. He looked at me. His face looked lost for a moment, before grinning at me again, his cheeks tinting a light shade of pink. _Natsu . . . this is the second time I have ever seen you blush. It's actually really cute. Just like that time._ I felt myself gasp internally at my thoughts. Natsu blushing was cute, but that didn't mean anything! We trudged slowly to the door, partially out of being careful and partly out of trepidation. I slid through the door first. I took a step, and so began my journey. Natsu was out of action, of course, because we were moving. We seemed to be moving _up, _if that makes any sense. We were plunged down, then slid up. The ground was really cold, but it was solid. _Ice._  
"Natsu. I think this is Gray's ice!"  
"Mmm." He mumbled, his face still blue. We eventually came to a point where the ground ended. Then the ice also ended, _a few hundred feet in the air_! We were thrown off our ice slide and rolled downwards, until we stopped. Looking up, I saw a pair of black boots and another pair of black sneakers. Leaning back onto my heels, I looked at the owners of said shoes and grinned.

"Erza! Gray!"


	4. What does Natsu Know?

M-P: This chapter will be what Lucy is told happened.. I hope my description is good enough. ^_^'

* * *

They were scratched and breathless, but not too badly hurt. Both sweat dropped at us.  
"This isn't the best time for you to drop in." Gray muttered. Just then, Erza pushed him down, _onto my freaking head. _It was bad enough that Natsu was crushing my backside, but having Gray's butt on my head and Erza's cleavage right in front of my eyes caused me to snap, just a _little _bit. With a roar, I pushed all of them away from me and got up, my face rose-red with exertion and annoyance.  
"What is your problem? What's going on?" Gray pointed shakily to a point behind me. I turned, a look of caution etched on my face. Then I gaped.

The thing that had Erza and Gray in such a pickle, was a . . . _racoon_? It was a strange one, I won't deny. Firstly, it was walking on two feet, as though it were a small, grey, hairy human. It stopped and looked at me. I stared back at it, in amazement. I pointed to it.  
"Who are you, racoon?" I asked softly, trying to stifle the sudden bout of laughter that wanted to burst from my lungs. It raised a paw, and a beam of light shot out. I stood, frozen, twitching. A _racoon, _could use Magic? My face suddenly became acquainted with the ground as I was pushed into it. Looking up, I saw another beam of light flash back. My mouth could have cracked the ground, that's how heavy my jaw was. I shut my eyes. I didn't want to witness this fight. Something banged into the back of my head.

I blacked out.

* * *

I awoke and found myself lying on the ground outside of the place that we had entered to destroy the lacrima. Apparently, the thing that had countered the white beam of light had also destroyed the various lacrima that me and Natsu couldn't. I sat down properly as they explained it to me.  
"What happened was kinda weird," Natsu began. "We couldn't see anything, then this guy in a weird cloak that only showed his hands, covered in long blue gloves, by the way, came out and shot a beam that was way more powerful than that racoon's blast. We couldn't se anything for ages, when we could, we saw him pick you up and run away."  
"When Natsu saw some guy taking you away, he flipped and ran after, not even caring about the fact that he got caught up in that blast. He caught up to him, but we don't know what happened. Natsu still hasn't told us." Gray looked over at Natsu as if he was waiting. I looked over at him and leaned back when I noticed the intensity of the way he was looking at me.  
"What is it, Natsu?" I stuttered, a hot blush threatening to infiltrate my face. He blinked once and sighed, looking down at something beside me. Crawling over, so that I was positioned by his feet. I looked up at him.  
"Natsu?" I asked anxiously. He peered down at me and shook his head, brooding. I looked at Gray and Erza, who shook their heads, as confused as I was. Natsu was almost never this moody. What could be wrong with him. He suddenly got up, suprising all of us.  
"Let's go back. We completed the mission." He said quietly. I swapped confused glances with Erza, who looked highly worried. _Natsu . . . what is it that has made you so upset? _I followed behind him, determined to figure out what it was.

* * *

After returning to the guild, Natsu vanished. I was about to go home, when Erza grasped my shoulder, pointing her chin in the direction of the cafe part of the guild.  
I looked at her expectantly as she began to elegantly devour her slice of strawberry flavoured cake. After a few bites, she put it down. I sat up, my attention spiked.  
"Lucy, whatever happened to Natsu during our latest job is obviously having a negative effect on him. I have known him almost all my life, but he's never really opened. That is, until he met you." I sat up straighter, flushing scarlet. _Jeez, I've been blushing too much recently. _  
"Lucy!" The bang of her hand on the table shocked me out of my short reverie. I looked up at her.  
"Sorry, Erza." I muttered. She nodded her head to show her forgiveness.  
"Lucy, we need to know what Natsu saw, or heard, or whatever. If it could affect the guild or him personally, then we need to figure out how to stop it, or cheer him up. If we were to lose Natsu . . . I- I would never forgive myself, knowing that there was something that I could have done about it." She muttered, clutching her fist to her chest and hiding her eyes from view. I sweat dropped.  
"Nobody's blamed you for anything yet, but if it helps, I'll try to get it out of him." I suggested, a little freaked out by how depressed she looked. Erza brightened immediately.  
"OK, Lucy! Your job is to find out what Natsu knows. To do this, I think you should go on another job, just the two of you and get him to talk when he's more relaxed." I twitched, nodded and rose without a word.

*0*0*0*0*

I opened the door to my home and smiled wearily when I saw Natsu spread out over my duvet, Happy snoozing on the ground beside his feet. I gently tugged at the thick duvet so that Natsu was sprawled over my purple sheets. Pushing him carefully, I positioned him on one side of my large single bed, before changing into my PJ's. I picked up Happy and put him on the pillow that I usually used when Natsu was in my bed with him. Sighing, I lay down beside Natsu and watched him sleep. Lifting a hand, I gently stroked his cheek and froze, catching myself. _What are you doing?, _my subconscious berated me. I placed my suddenly cold palm on the pillow, watching his face as he slept. _Seriously, why is it that boys are so cute when they sleep? _I felt myself smile reluctantly. Natsu mumbled something before grinning in his sleep. I blushed, in awe of his cuteness. Making myself even more comfortable, I grinned at his sleeping face before shutting my own eyes and allowing myself to drift . . .


	5. Lucy's Nightmare

M-P: Hey guys, thank you for liking this story! I would like to give a special shout out to the first five reviewers. My little cousin, xxMadVansxx, Lillyviolet,, awesome-sadist, ForeverKingdom and xXwendyXx3. I really do appreciate it!

* * *

_I turned abruptly, my anxiety getting to my temper.  
"Just who are you? And what do you want?" I yelled, before stopping. Standing behind me was a cloaked figure with long blue gloves. He held out his hand to me.  
"I saved you. You can trust me." He said smoothly, his mouth the only thing that I could see under his hood, his canines elongated, like that of a certain dragon slayer that I knew well. The sudden hardening of the very mouth that had been grinning at me alerted me to a presence behind me. Swivelling on my foot once more, my mouth dropped open at the sight of Natsu, running towards us. He looked worried, reaching his hand out. I lifted my arm, only to have my elbow gripped by the person behind me. Natsu was speaking . . . no shouting, but no words were coming out, no words that I could hear. The gloved figure was pulling me.  
"Come with me, I'll show you the wonders of magic." He was persuasive, tugging me along with me. We were running now, crossing the bridge. Natsu was falling further behind, growing smaller. As we reached the other side of the bridge, I finally heard him.  
"Lucy! Lucy, don't trust him! He'll hurt you! Lucy!" His voice was growing louder. Everything began shaking and fading.  
"Natsu!" I cried.  
"Natsu!" _

__My eyes opened suddenly, as my body was heated to a level that wasn't normal. Rolling my shoulders, I realised that I couldn't. My hands were trapped by my side, my head buried in someone's neck.  
"Natsu?" I whispered, my voice betraying the fear from my nightmare.  
"It's OK, Lucy. I'm here."  
"What happened to me?"  
"You were talking in your sleep. Natsu tried shaking you awake, but your eyes wouldn't open. Then you started screaming his name, so he held you, tight." Happy smirked knowingly, looking down at me from his position on one of my book shelves. I pulled away slightly, so that I could look up at him.  
"Happy, why don't you go and stuff yourself? I just bought some fish." I muttered. He purred with glee before floating out of my bedroom. I finally took notice of my surroundings. I was seated on Natsu's lap, whose legs were crossed on top of my sheets, the duvet thrown over to the bottom of the bed. He hadn't let go of me.  
"Natsu, I'm fine now." I mumbled, giving him permission to release me. He looked down at me, his disquiet etched into his face.  
"Lucy, what were you dreaming about? You sounded really scared." He said, frowning. Sitting with a pillow clutched in my arms, I looked over at him.  
"Somebody was pulling across a bridge. They were trying to get me away from you. You were running, trying to catch up, but you were getting further away. He told me that he'd show me the wonders of magic." I whispered. Natsu's frown deepened, as he began thinking.  
"What did he look like?"  
"I couldn't see his face. He was wearing a cloak that hid everything but his mouth, which was a lot like yours, with long canines. And he-" I tried to remember. "And he was wearing gloves, long blue gloves." Natsu's face darkened with an unfathomable emotion. If only I could read minds!  
"Lucy, promise me that you won't go out on missions on your own. Promise that you'll go with someone like Gray or even Wendy." He said, his voice solid. I gaped at him.  
"Promise, Lucy!" His voice was more insistent. I nodded and gave my word. Natsu relaxed and fell asleep almost straight after. I scooted a little closer to his warm body and shut my eyes, falling into a dreamless sleep.


	6. Looking for Natsu

M-P: OK guys, just to keep you and myself entertained, let's play a game. Can you guess who the cloaked figure with long blue gloves is? And who can guess what the Wonders of Magic are? I'll try to put as many clues as I can into the chapters.

* * *

The next day, I arrived early at the guild. I had left Natsu and Happy asleep in my house. I sat down at a table on my own and put my head in my hands. _That dream, and that nightmare. How do they add up?_ I had dreamed about crying in Natsu's arms and had a nightmare about someone Natsu told me was going to hurt me. To finish off, he knew something about the person who had saved me from that racoon's attack. Something that he didn't want to tell me. I groaned with frustration. _Oh Natsu. Why can't you just talk to me?_ Sighing, I lifted my head. Turning my head, I saw Natsu leaning casually against the wall beside the request board. I gaped at him.  
"How long have you been there?" I asked, my whisper ringing clearly across the empty space.  
"I got here just after you did. Lucy, why are you here so early? Even Mira isn't here yet." His tone became accusing.  
"You weren't going to pick a job by yourself, were you?" His expression was furious.  
"You promised, Lucy!" I walked over to him.  
"I wasn't going to pick a job, I swear." I said, placating him. He relaxed, but his wary expression remained.  
"Don't be mad, Natsu. I just wanted to think about that nightmare." _And the dream that I had about you. _He pouted.  
That guy . . . he's a dragon slayer." He admitted. I gasped. So, I was saved by a dragon slayer? Was this linked to my dream last night? The wonders of magic? Why wouldn't he tell me? I was about to ask him just that when the door opened. Mira, Erza, Levy and the Master walked inside, but paused when they saw me and Natsu.  
"We're not interrupting anything, are we?" The Master asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively. It was only then that I realised how close I was standing to him. Jumping back, I stuttered,  
"N- no! That isn't what's going on at all!"  
"Then why are you two so early today?" Levy asked. Natsu just looked at all of them. His frown was deepening with each thought that seemed to be flitting across his mind. With no warning, he marched to the door.  
"Natsu!" I called, taking half a step forward with my arm outstretched.  
"Where are you going?" The other guild members asked.  
"To get Happy." He snapped, before slamming the door shut. I could feel the questioning glances of the other mages on me, waiting for some sort of insight, but I kept my eyes on the door and offered them none.

* * *

It was almost midday and Natsu hadn't returned. My blood was beginning to lose heat.  
"Gray, Erza, Wendy. I'm going to find Natsu!" I called, pushing away from the table I was sitting at and walking purposefully to the door.  
"Why?" Gray called.  
"He stormed out of here earlier this morning." Levy piped up.  
"HUH?! Natsu was here before everyone else?" He and Gajeel gaped. I didn't have time for them.  
"I'll come with you, Lucy." Erza said, walking behind me. I stopped for a moment, then began walking again, not bothering to reply.

*0*0*0*0*

After packing my pink backpack, I headed to the train station. The chances of Natsu still being in Magnolia Town were pretty slim if nobody had seen him.  
"So, Lucy, where are we going?" Gray asked, taking in long strides to catch up with me when I walked past the guild.  
"To the next town." I replied briskly. Nobody said anything afterward, sensing my cold determination.  
By the time we arrived at the next town, I had begun to have doubts. Natsu's sense of smell was so good it was creepy. What if he had scented us and he decided to bolt? I sank to the ground in the middle of the street, attracting strange glances that I didn't really care about.  
"Natsu!" I cried, praying with everything in me that he would hear me. When nothing happened, I rose after a few minutes, and began to walk blindly through the streets, useless tears forming in my eyes. Before I realised, I was running a mindless, blurred path. _Thud. _I fell back into a wall in what I now noticed was a small alley street. Looking up, I felt my pupils constrict. Standing there in front of me was a young man, of average height, with muscular arms and messy hair, which was spiked at some points. His face was covered in shadow, but I could see a pair of red eyes blinking at me through the darkness and one side of a pair of elongated canines twinkled at me. So much like- I gasped  
"Wha-?"


	7. Meeting the Enemy who Saved Me

M-P: Ahaha! Did you guess who it was? Guess what? I'm a beta! Whoo! Please review and let me know what you think. I'll accept any CONSTRUCTIVE criticisms, but it might get me a bit stressed, but that's OK, I'll be fine. ^.^

* * *

I stared at the young man in front of me.  
"I know you! You're him, from my dream!" I whimpered. He grinned at me, smiling as easily as the dragon slayer I was looking for. The only differences were that this guy was slimmer, slightly taller, his hair was blonde, his acicular eye were pointed downwards instead of up and out. But he had the same defined muscles, the hair had the same messiness as the other dragon slayers I knew, but one piece of his profile stood out most. On his arms, he wore a pair of navy blue gloves. Navy blue gloves. His smirk finally reached my eyes when I raised them from his arms. He reached out and gently tugged at a lock of my blonde hair, letting it slide away from his fingers.  
"So you know me too, huh?" He whispered, his smile sending a strange frisson down my spine. At that very moment, a small feather landed on his hand, followed by a large beam of fire. He pushed me out of the way and escaped it himself. After the smoke disappeared, I gaped at Natsu, who was standing right before me, his breathing harsh and his face a mask of intense fury.  
"Get the hell away from her!" He roared, causing me to stumble back with fear. I slid back against the wall, pressing myself to it as Natsu began to duel with him, eventually managing to singe his hair with a small ball of fire. The other dragon slayer grunted with frustration, and jumped up, onto a roof, disappearing as the sun blocked our eyes. As I shielded my eyes, I heard a voice call out.  
"By the way, Lucy, my name. It's Sting. Sting Eucliffe." It faded out when the sunlight shifted. I stood staring at the roof, before turning my gaze back to Natsu, who had turned round and was glaring at me.  
"What were you thinking? Coming down a street like this on your own?" My mouth dropped open.  
"There you are! Natsu! Lucy!" A small voice called. We turned as one to see Wendy, Gray and Erza jogging towards us, since there wasn't enough space in the area for any of them to run.  
"You idiot! What were you thinking, leaving town on your own without telling anyone. Lucy was going out of her mind!" Erza scolded, smacking him on the head with an armour clad arm.  
"OW!" He cried, clutching his head with mock agony. I stood back and watched as the others began quizzing Natsu, who was being stubborn and giving nothing away. Above his head, I could see Carla and Happy circling around with their wings. My hands began to tremble, and a strange burning sensation began to fill the back of my eyes and my head. _No!_ _Don't cry, Lucy! What reason do you have to cry? _But it just wouldn't stop, the dry, burning feeling that was spreading down my throat. I threw myself forward, and Natsu turned just in time to catch me in his arms. I began pounding his chest and screaming.  
"Why? Why can't you just talk to me? You're my best friend and you can't even tell me something that could possibly put me in danger? Natsu, why can't you just tell me?" My voice cracked at the last sentence, as I gave in to my tears and sank into his dismayed embrace, burying my face in his chest.

*0*0*0*0*

We were seated in a small, quaint cafe at the train station. I hadn't spoken to anybody the whole ride here, just staring at my knotted fingers as I tried to push my scattered thoughts together. _Natsu knew that they guy who saved me was a dragon slayer. That dragon slayer is the same person who appeared in my nightmare. That dragon slayer, is called Sting, and he wants to show me the wonders of magic. Except, I don't know what they are, and in my dream, Natsu told me that he would hurt me. Oh what do I do? Natsu won't speak to me, and that Sting guy is really cute . . .  
_"Lucy?" A small voice called out to me. Looking up, I saw everyone else looking at me from the door. Natsu was halfway there, his worry creased into his face.  
"Lucy?" He repeated, "are you coming?" I nodded and rose from my seat, sullenly walking past him, past everyone else, back out into the open sunshine that seemed to be blinding my sense of understanding.

* * *

M-P: That's this chapter guys! Please don't forget to review, and yeah! Thanks for reading. I'll update as soon as humanly possible.


	8. Plans Beginning to Form

M-P:My gosh! Guys I'm so sorry to have left you hanging! Man! I just got caught up watching Mirai Nikki, One Piece and so on. SOWWY.

I realise now that Natsu may seem a bit OOC in this story, and I'm working on fixing it.

* * *

"Why haven't you spoken?" I started and glanced behind me, past my friends, at Natsu. Turning back to look at my home in front of me, I walked to the front door.  
"You told me nothing." I heard the confused sounds come from behind me, but didn't rotate.  
"All this time, you knew about him. You knew about what he wanted. You _knew_! _But still, _you told me _nothing_!" I was screaming at the end of this sentence, having marched up to the front door and turned to face him, shaking with rage and betrayal.  
"L-Lucy-"  
"Don't! My best friend. You are supposed to be my _best friend_! How could you keep this from me? If there was any possible danger, you should have told me, us, anybody, so that we could prepare ourselves. Protect ourselves. But you didn't. You-" I was trembling too much. _He can't see you like this. Don't let him see how weak you are. Just _**_DON'T_**_! _I turned and fleed into my home, pulling the door behind me, but not closing it properly. I sat on my bed and allowed my tears to trickle down in thin rivulets down my face. I don't understand why he felt he couldn't tell me. We're nakama. Very close nakama. So- why? A sudden realisation hit me. His behavior has become strange. He's become more distant. There's something else, something more. Natsu must know something that hasn't been revealed yet! I have to find out what it is. And now! I was just about to run out of my door when I remembered my earlier screaming. Natsu might not want to speak to me right now after that. Besides, it's sunset, and I don't remember where he lives. He'll probably have crashed out anyway. There's no way I'll have access to him tonight. I sighed and trudged, desolate back to my room.

*0*0*0*0*

_ "Wha-"  
"I see. So you decided to show, Lucy." A voice murmured into my ear. I turned to see Sting standing behind me, leaning against a post with a sign that said 'Veronica' on_ it._ I realised that we were at Magnolia Train Station, on a strange platform that I hadn't seen before. Platforms 7 and 6. It should have been the other way round, but it wasn't. That was the strange thing.  
"How did I get here?" I pondered aloud. He smirked.  
"At the train station, you went down the stairs for staff only. This platform is underground. It was closed down due to an explosion a couple of years ago, when there was a bit of a mini war between two old wizard guilds. But, this is the only way we can get to Veronica." I cocked my head at him, nonplussed. He came over to me and took my hand, leading me to the place were the platform made way for the train. He jumped, tugging me with him and caught me in his arm. I looked up into his eyes and blushed. His eyelids had lowered, so his eyes had this really hot, sleepy look, which suited him perfectly with his tousled blonde hair. I reached out to run my fingers through it, before catching myself. He grinned at me and tugged my hand, pulling me forward. I blanched at the sudden darkness that burdened my vision.  
"It's OK, Lucy." He murmured, pulling me forward faster. I glanced in the direction of his voice, confused.  
"I won't let you get hurt. After all, I want to show you the wonders of magic! I want you to be happy. So I'll be waiting here for you, Lucy." I smiled shyly at him. I liked the way he said my name. Lucy . . ._

"Lucy, wake up!" A paw that stank of fish began to paw- pun intended- at my face. I scrunched my eyes at the sudden sunlight and punched the stupid cat away, getting its squeal of pain as a reward.  
"How did you get into my house, cat?" I spat out, irritated. He flew back up to my face and in that annoyingly chirpy voice of his, said,  
"You didn't come to the guild this morning, and Natsu was getting worried, so we came here. He waited outside, he was nervous about whether you were still angry. That wasn't nice by the way- OW!" I had pushed the thing away and was rushing into the bathroom to change. Happy was still a boy, after all. I didn't want him to see anything that he could report to the perverts at the guild.

I was ready. Opening my door with a flourish, I gave Natsu, who was looking out at the river, a quick smack on the head.  
"OW, OW, OW!" He screeched, clutching his head and dancing about the street in mock agony. I resisted the urge to giggle. I was on a mission. I was going to learn as much as I could about Sting and these strange 'Wonders of Magic' that he'd told me about.  
"Nastu," I called in what I hoped was a dark voice, much like Erza when Gray and Natsu were in trouble. He paused and turned around slowly, hand still on head, and left eye twitching ever so slightly.  
"Y-yes, Luce?"  
"I want you to tell me everything you know about your encounter with the guy who saved me, Sting." His twitch dropped and his face hardened into his stubborn look, the one he took on when he was about to have a fight with Gray. _Uh-oh._  
"No." His short answer surprised me, and my mouth fell open.  
"N-no?"  
"No." He gave me a look that told me he wasn't going to say any more. I sighed with frustration. _Look at yourself. You're giving up too early, as usual! You can't let him keep this secret from you any longer. You need to know as much as you can about _him_- before you go and see if that weird platform is actually there!_ The need to know more won out. Natsu could deal with whatever issue he had with Sting later.  
"Too bad. You'll tell me anyway, Natsu, otherwise, I won't speak to you, nor will I attend missions with you, and I may even join another team." I muttered, knowing full well that he could hear me with his dragon senses. He tensed.  
"You wouldn't betray your nakama, Lucy. You're better than that." He growled, his face darkening. I swallowed, but continued. I needed to let him in on a small part of my plan so that he would give me what I wanted.  
"Fine. If you tell me more, I'll let you come with me." He turned back to face me, curious caution etched into his face.  
"Where are you going?"  
"To meet him." There was a very long pause, in which Happy drifted out of the house to float just behind Natsu, giving me a gloating look, whilst Erza, Gray, Wendy, Gajeel, and the other walked up the street, in which the guy who always told me it wasn't safe to walk of the edge of the wall that stopped the river from overflowing that it wasn't safe began floating by in his little boat, in which we seemed to freeze, before Natsu's explosion hit us.  
"YOU'RE WHAT?!"


End file.
